Prattware pottery ‘Macaroni’ tea caddy and cover, circa 1800

English Prattware pottery ‘Macaroni’ tea caddy and cover, circa 1800. Moulded to one side with ladies of high fashion, in elaborate 18th Century costume, whilst the reverse shows their male counterparts in appropriate attire. Hand painted in vibrant Pratt enamels, and underglaze blue.

Both the shoulder and the ends, painted with stylised flowering plants.
The caddy retains its original cover, surmounted with a teardrop finial, and decorated in Pratt colours.
All beneath a pearlware glaze.

This is a particularly sharply moulded example, indicating that it is an early pull from the mould.

Height – 15.5 cm, 6 1/8”.

Width – 8.5 cm, 3 3/8”.

Depth – 5.2 cm, 2 1/8”.

Condition – Tight hairline to the inner flange of the cover. Otherwise in fine condition. No restoration.

The ‘Macaroni’ may be seen as the 18th Century fore runner, of the Regency Dandy. It was a style believed to derive from the fashions adopted and adapted to an exaggerated level by wealthy young men who had experienced Grand Tour travels to Italy; not only was it a matter of what you wore, but also your mannerisms, affectations and lifestyle, an early day androgynism, or ‘non binary’.
As with all fashions, the exponents soon became the subject of ridicule and satire.

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance